Description
We are seeking a Android developer who can operate simultaneously as a developer, architect, researcher, and problem solver someone who understands that the most difficult challenges are not always solvable through documentation alone.
Role Summary
This role is not limited to implementing tickets.
A Successful Candidate Will
- Design, build, and evolve a production-grade Android application written in Kotlin
- Independently research Android OS behaviors, limitations, and undocumented edge cases (prior to Android 11, Android 11+ and Android 15+)
- Translate legal, compliance, and business requirements into reliable technical solutions
- Think holistically about architecture, performance, security, and long-term maintainability
- Act as a technical partner to product, security, and leadership teams
This is a role for someone who is comfortable operating in ambiguity and is expected to propose solutions, not just execute instructions.
Core Responsibilities
Android Application Development :
- Design and implement Android features in Kotlin, following modern Android architecture patterns (MVVM, clean architecture, modularization)
- Develop and maintain logic for targeted data collection from Android sources including :
- SMS, MMS, RCS
- Media and photo galleries
- Voicemail and audio artifacts
- System and application metadata
- Future Applications
- Ensure compatibility across multiple Android versions, OEM implementations, and device configurations
- Handle large datasets efficiently with a focus on performance, reliability, and resource constraints
Architecture & Technical Design
- Own and evolve the Android application architecture with a long term, platform mindset
- Evaluate tradeoffs between OS limitations, user permissions, privacy constraints, and business needs
- Design solutions that are resilient to Android OS changes, OEM customizations, and security controls
- Collaborate with backend and platform teams to define clean, stable interfaces and contracts
Research & Development (R&D)
- Perform hands on R&D to explore :
- Android OS internals and behavior
- Permission models and access boundaries
- OEM specific constraints and edge cases
- Prototype and validate approaches before production implementation
- Stay current with Android platform changes and assess their impact proactively
Debugging, Troubleshooting & Observability
- Diagnose complex production issues involving :
- Device-specific behavior
- OS version fragmentation
- Performance degradation or data inconsistencies
- Instrument the application with logging, metrics, and traces
- Integrate and leverage Datadog for :
- Runtime diagnostics
- Error tracking
- Performance monitoring
- Participate in root cause analysis and post incident remediation
Business & Compliance Awareness
- Understand how technical decisions impact:
- Legal defensibility
- Chain of custody requirements
- Client trust and regulatory obligations
- Translate business objectives into practical technical implementations
- Proactively raise risks, constraints, or alternative approaches when necessary
Required Qualifications
- 7+ years of professional Android development experience
- Expert level proficiency in Kotlin
- Deep understanding of Android OS internals, permissions, storage, and background execution
- Proven experience debugging complex, real-world Android issues across diverse devices
- Experience integrating logging, monitoring, and observability tools (e.g., Datadog)
- Strong architectural reasoning skills and ability to design systems beyond immediate requirements
- Ability to work independently with minimal direction in complex problem spaces
Preferred / Differentiating Experience
- Experience with data extraction, forensics, compliance, or eDiscovery adjacent domains
- Familiarity with secure data handling, encryption, and audit logging
- Experience dealing with OEM-specific Android behaviors (Samsung, Pixel, etc.)
- Exposure to reverse engineering, undocumented APIs, or creative problem solving within OS constraints
- Prior ownership of a production Android application used in high risk or regulated environments
What Success Looks Like
- You proactively identify and solve problems before they become blockers
- You propose architectural improvements grounded in real-world constraints
- You can explain why a solution works, not just how it was implemented
- You operate comfortably at the intersection of engineering, business, and compliance
- You raise the technical bar for the entire Android platform at ModeOne
(ref:hirist.tech)
